This invention relates generally to detergent shaped bodies of the type used for dosing washing- and cleaning-active (detersive) ingredients in laundry or dishwashing detergents. More particularly, the invention relates to a process for the production of perfumed single-phase or multiphase detergent shaped bodies.
Detergent shaped bodies are widely described in the prior art literature and, being easy to dose, are enjoying increasing popularity among consumers. Detergent shaped bodies have a number of advantages over powder-form products. They are easier to dose and handle and, by virtue of their compact structure, have advantages in regard to storage and transportation. Accordingly, detergent shaped bodies are also comprehensively described in the patent literature. Besides detersive ingredients, such as builders and surfactants, perfumes are among the most common ingredients of these shaped bodies. Perfumes mainly perform two functions in detergent shaped bodies. First, they provide the consumer with an unmistakable product odor typical of the particular detergent. The detergent can thus be identified not only by its appearance, but also by its fragrance. Second, perfumes are also intended to perfume the article to be cleaned, such as articles of clothing for example. This second perfume impression conveys a feeling of “freshness” and “cleanness” to the consumer and thus increases satisfaction with the corresponding detergent. Accordingly, the question of which perfumes or perfume combinations should be present in a detergent and what its perfume content should be to secure high consumer acceptance depends to a very large extent on the subjective perception of odor by the consumer or individual consumer groups. In the experience of detergent manufacturers, the answers to this question differ significantly in the various countries of Europe. Because of this, detergents of the same brand will generally contain different perfumes or perfume combinations or different contents of these perfumes or perfume combinations in different countries. However, this fact is not without consequences for the production and production costs of the detergents. The perfumes used in detergents are generally liquid or viscous substances. Their perfume content is generally of the order of 0.1 to 5% by weight. The content and type of perfume oil used has a direct bearing on the processability of detergent premixes. Particularly in the production of shaped bodies, for example by tabletting or extrusion, changes to the perfumes present or to their percentage contents lead, for example, to differences in the tabletting or extrusion behavior of the premixes as reflected, for example, in caking on tabletting punches or in reduced heat or pressure resistance of the mixture during the extrusion process. Accordingly, changes to perfume formulations often necessitate changes to their overall formulation on process-related grounds. This means that the manufacturer of perfumed detergents has to develop and produce a large number of differently formulated detergents. Accordingly, the problem addressed by the present invention was to provide a process for the production of detergents which would enable the detergents to be flexibly perfumed without any of the above-mentioned production disadvantages so that the development and production costs of the detergents could be reduced. This process would be independent of the formulation of the detergent and independent of the nature of the perfume. Another problem addressed by the invention was to improve the availability of perfumes in detergents, i.e. to improve their external effect and hence to reduce the perfume content of the detergents.
It has now surprisingly been found that these problems can be solved by the subsequent perfuming of a shaped perfume-free detergent premix providing the perfume or perfume-containing active-substance mixture subsequently applied has a perfume content of at least 20% by weight.